Trail Point 6. Northampton Road

 

Northampton Road (carrier with four horses)

 
In another late afternoon/early evening view, probably in the 1880s, a covered wagon makes its way over the rise in the road from Northampton just north of Grafton. The depiction of the wagon is interesting in that it shows a team of four horses - not a common sight. Two women sit alongside the driver and a second man steadies the team as a dog barks at their approach.

They are nearing the old road junction to Alderton on the left and the lane to Bozenham Mill on the right. The road to Alderton has since been re-aligned and the junction re-sited. Fully metalled roads were still about fifty years away, but the many ruts in the road bear witness to the wheeled traffic it bore at this time. Dirt roads may evoke the rural life, but they could be very dusty in summer and very muddy when it rained.

The figure on the right may be a worker on his way home. Contemporary accounts of the period say that often the only figures seen on the roads were traders or tramps on their way to their doss for the night. However, this figure seems to be dressed rather better than a tramp.